Only our Thoughts, and an Invitation for Parfait
by Cryptographic DeLurk
Summary: Makoto gulped and held the lunches tighter to his chest. He had patterned the pickled vegetables on the rice to look like dolphins, and had cut the sausages to resemble octopuses. A fem!Haru story.


Makoto gulped and held the lunches tighter to his chest. He had patterned the pickled vegetables on the rice to look like dolphins, and had cut the sausages to resemble octopuses.

He inhaled deeply and pressed the buzzer on Haruka's door.

This would be the day that he told her.

He would tell her and then everyone would know, because everyone else already knew. His parents had bid him off with encouraging smiles and a pair of thumbs up. Ren and Ran said they wouldn't let Haru have him on Sundays, no matter what happened. The other day, Rei had apologized after openly admiring Haru's swimming, and assured Makoto that "Nanase-san's" swimming was beautiful from a purely aesthetic and athletic stance. Nagisa sometimes smiled too sweetly and asked what colour Haru's panties were.

He pressed the buzzer again… and again…

After a minute it was clear that Haru wasn't answering the door.

Makoto blushed and let his hand hover over the edge of the door. It wasn't really okay to enter a house where a lady was staying alone, but…

"Haru, I'm coming in," he shouted.

The door slid open easily. It hadn't even been locked. Makoto wished she would take more concerns for her own safety.

"Haru, are you here?" he shouted. She wasn't in the kitchen. She wasn't in the living room.

And if Makoto knew her at all, she wasn't still sleeping.

"Haru! Haru! It's time to go!" he called, standing in front of the bathroom door.

No answer. Makoto wrung his hands and almost dropped the lunchboxes in the process.

"Haru! We need to go! We're going to be late for school!" he called again.

The door slammed open.

Makoto jumped startled. Haru had both hands on the doorframe. She wasn't holding up a towel with either arm. Makoto frantically averted his eyes to the ceiling, the picture frame on the wall, the ceiling light, the lunchboxes, Haru's hand, Haru's…

_Oh, she was wearing a swimsuit._

"Yeah, yeah," she grumbled as she walked past him, not paying any attention at all to the way her leg brushed up against Makoto as she passed.

She walked straight past him into the kitchen. When Makoto finally gathered himself and followed her into the kitchen, she had already flung on an apron and pulled some mackerel out of the fridge.

"Um, Haru, we kind of need to go. I have lunches for us," he held up the lunchboxes and smiled winningly, "and I can run to the store while your changing, buy you some bread, for breakfast. And, maybe afterschool, we can go out for parfaits."

Haru turned on the grill and looked back, unimpressed at Makoto as she laid the fish down.

Makoto wanted to be insulted, he really did.

But the apron was striped green and blue and a little too small and it hugged her body a little too well. And her wet hair framed her delicate features a little too nicely.

But more than that, Haru had a vision, and it was nothing like Makoto had ever seen, something he couldn't even fully understand.

But he wanted to be a part of it.

"Don't feel like it," Haru said, and Makoto felt his heart sink.

"But I'll go… put on my uniform… and a dry suit. Watch my mackerel," she said. She pulled off the apron and handed it to Makoto as she walked past, their hands touching casually, and that was really all he needed.

.

.

The lunchboxes had been safely stowed away in his backpack.

The street was calm. It was a quiet walk to school.

Makoto was chatting idly about his classes, but Haru had turned her head towards the sea. They could probably even go swimming soon. The water was getting warmer, and it would be summer vacation before too long.

But this wasn't how it was supposed to go. This was going to be the day he told her after all. He needed to get her attention.

"Eh, look at me going on," he trailed off, "when I know you don't even like English class too much."

Haru was staring longingly at the ocean.

"But it seems like our teacher is kind of a creative-thinker, and he says we could incorporate other disciplines into our presentations. Maybe you could draw a poster or something, Haru."

She was still staring at the ocean.

"You're really very talented. Have you thought about joining the art club?"

Well, that was a winner. Haru turned to glare at him.

"Is that why you came to pick me up this morning?" she asked.

Well, it wasn't the only reason, but Makoto didn't know how to tell her that.

"Eh, heh," he chuckled, scratching his head. "I wanted to see how you were. Though, there isn't much we can do. It was hard enough getting Rei on as a potential recruit, and Ama-chan can't get the club approved co-ed, and we don't have enough male members. I thought you might be a bit depressed."

Haru huffed and turned away again.

"Not really," she said.

Swimming was a lot easier when they were in grade school.

"Is- is this about Rin?" he asked.

"Not really," she said. It sounded lighter than her previous answer. Makoto was prepared to take her nonchalance at face value.

They walked a bit further in silence. The school gates were already in sight.

_Just tell her. Just tell her._

Haru's voice cut through his thoughts. "Maybe I should join the art club."

Makoto turned in surprise.

"You're really good at drawing," he said dumbly.

"As long as it doesn't get in the way of swimming. Summer will be here soon." She smiled at him, just barely, and Makoto had a sudden burst of courage.

"Haru, I-"

"Mako-chaaaaan! Haru-chaaaaaan! There you guys are!"

Nagisa was there before Makoto could even turn to look. He had done a flying leap and circled his arm around Haru's shoulders.

He didn't mean anything by it, Makoto knew, but still…

Makoto gripped his backpack straps a little harder.

"Man, I thought I was going to be late!" Nagisa complained. "But look at that, right on time, and here we all are!"

Haru wasn't smiling anymore, but Nagisa didn't seem to care.

He jostled her shoulder. "Though I guess Rei-chan isn't here. Did I tell you? He decided to keep doing track, since we couldn't get the swim club off the ground."

Makoto was willing to bet there was nothing Nagisa hadn't told them about Rei. Nagisa couldn't seem to shut up about him for more than a few seconds.

And then Nagisa proved him wrong.

"But, you know Haru-chan, he says he hasn't given up the idea of swimming yet! He'd like to come swimming with us during summer break, if you could show him some of the tricks of the trade."

Haru hummed noncommittally, but she was smiling again, just barely. Makoto felt something bittersweet, like nostalgia.

Nagisa finally seemed to notice him. He looked wildly between Makoto and Haru and dropped his arm off of Haru's shoulder.

"Well, we better get to class. Unless, you two were-" Nagisa stumbled over his words. "You two weren't- I didn't interrupt anything, did I?"

Makoto gathered up his courage again. He was about to tell Nagisa that he had, in fact, interrupted, and that he needed to talk to Haru alone.

"Not really," Haru said.

Nagisa gave Makoto a look of sympathy that did nothing to make him feel better.

Haru turned to walk inside the school gate. Maybe she would try to find Gou before class. Or, probably, she wouldn't say a word to anybody as she moved to her seat, in the class her and Makoto shared.

"Haru, wait," Makoto said.

Haru turned. Her hair fluttered a bit as she swivelled.

Makoto pulled his backpack off his shoulder, and reached inside to dig out a pair of packages. He lifted them up, and held them away at arm's length.

"Don't forget your lunch," he said.

* * *

><p>.<p>

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I became a lot more interested in these two after s02ep11.

Hope you all enjoyed!


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